KanCare anger justified
The rough questioning of Brownback administration leaders at last week’s KanCare legislative oversight panel hearings revealed bipartisan frustration with constituent experiences and official assurances.
Anger is justified, as is legislative talk of rolling back the recent 4 percent reimbursement cut and blocking a worrisome proposal to consolidate seven in-home care programs.
The application processing delays, paperwork hassles, rushed reforms and provider payment reductions risk real harm to the poor, elderly and disabled Kansans who rely on KanCare, the governor’s signature privatization of Medicaid.
Rep. Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, who chairs the oversight panel, spoke of receiving daily calls from people whose applications are part of the application backlog. One family’s loved one had applied last October and died in March without getting through the system, he said. Lawmakers also heard testimony that four nursing homes had closed because of Medicaid rate cuts and other issues.
There have been some signs of improvement during the privatized system’s first 2 1/2 years. Two of the three managed-care contractors that insure KanCare patients made a combined $75 million profit last year, compared with the $52 million and $116 million total the three companies lost in 2014 and 2013, respectively.
Last week also brought the good news that the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services had cleared the waiting list for home- and community-based services for individuals with physical disabilities, and that the KanCare application backlog had been trimmed to 3,587 from 15,000.
But officials signaled they intended to proceed with the consolidation of in-home care programs, despite the lawmakers’ strong opposition to changing how Kansans with disabilities receive services.
Where could Hawkins or others find the money to undo the funding cuts, especially if a Kansas Supreme Court order necessitates a big increase for public schools?
And how long can Kansas forgo the federal dollars that would flow from expanding Medicaid, which also would newly insure more than 150,000 lower-income adults?
Last week at least made clear that state lawmakers aren’t shrugging off the problems with KanCare. That’s appropriate, as fixing a system that was struggling even before the budget cut will require their keen oversight and dogged advocacy.
As Sen. Michael O’Donnell, R-Wichita, said of the backlog and application problems: “We’re talking about life and death issues here.”
This story was originally published August 9, 2016 at 12:08 AM with the headline "KanCare anger justified."